Rajon Rondo was one of the most intelligent players in the NBA.
He continually studied his opponents and was able to predict what offensive and defensive sets they were going to run. With this knowledge, he was able to manipulate the game in his favour.
But players like this are rare and few in today’s NBA.
And Rondo, who recently announced his retirement, is disappointed in the direction point guards are going in.
Making an appearance on All The Smoke, the 4-time NBA All-Star told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson that it’s sad point guards are now more focused on scoring than being quarterbacks.
“It’s sad. I believe, you know, basketball Gods appreciated myself and Chris [Paul]; how we play the game -I believe the right way. Not that every point guard who is scoring now is selfish, but at the same time the point guard is the leader on the floor; he’s an extension of the coach on the floor.
“Like I said earlier about it, a lot of these coaches were thrown out of the game, the point guard wouldn’t know how to handle the situation, they wouldn’t know what plays to call down the stretch of the game, they wouldn’t know who to get the ball to at certain times, different matchups. So, it’s sad the game is going this way. But again, the league wanted scoring… The point guard is gone.”
Final Thoughts
True point guards were one of my favourite positions to watch.
Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Ricky Rubio, CP3 and Rondo -I loved seeing how they set up plays and how they mapped out the court to get scorers into their positions.
And like what Rondo said, it is sad to see this breed of point guards die out. However, I understand that basketball evolves with the times and at this period of the sport, fast-paced scoring is the game.
But do you think it’ll ever cycle back to the times when playmakers are needed?
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